General counsel takes plea over golf outing credit-card charges

The general counsel of a Colorado transportation agency wound up in the rough over golf outings he was accused of charging on a company credit card around the time when he was scheduled for continuing legal education and professional meetings.

Walter Mathews IV was fired by Roaring Fork Transportation Authority last year and then criminally charged after the agency reported him to authorities, the Aspen Times recounts.

Matthews pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of felony theft and one count of misdemeanor theft under a deferred adjudication plea agreement. It will leave him without a felony conviction on his record if he successfully satisfies terms and conditions of his sentence, which will be determined next month, the newspaper says.

Mathews has already paid full restitution of over $30,000, Deputy District Attorney Anne Norrkin told the judge in the Garfield County District Court case, and she has agreed to recommend a sentence that includes no jail time.

The newspaper says the bus agency had an accounting firm probe Mathews’ spending after his use of a company-issued credit card in 2012 raised concerns, according to the article and an earlier Aspen Times story.

The accounting firm found he had charged golf outing expenses around the time he had said he would be at continuing-education courses and professional meetings. The firm found no evidence, in a number of instances, that continuing education courses were actually scheduled at the times and places where Mathews had he would be attending them.